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Re: Neuropsychological testing

Posted by ItsHowdyDudyTime on December 13, 2002, at 20:46:01

In reply to Is there any test ?????, posted by Tepiaca on December 11, 2002, at 16:15:39

> Hi
> Im so worried about what disease Ive been on the
> last 7 years .
> I have tried with , electrocardiogram , magnetic
> resonance and a tomografy (sorry bad spelling)
> Is there any other test tha can help me to see
> that is there any problem in my brain ? or something that help me know what I have? In the other studies the doctors did not find anything
> Hope yo can help me . Ive been suffering of , psicotics featutes , social phobia , and depression , all at the same time ,its so horrible
> I want to find the exit to my problem , but I think the only way out of this is my dead
> Im very frustated
> Need Help
> Thank you

If you believe you have psychotic features but arent sure, there are a variety of Neuropsychological tests available that can help assess whether you have psychotic thinking. The Rorschach test (inkblot test) is one, another is a test called the "TAT." Either of these can be useful in diagnosing distorted perception (psychosis).

A standard battery of Neuropsychological tests would include the TAT, the MMPI personality test and some memory testing like the Wessler memory test. There are others as well. Some are objective type tests, like scantron fill in the blank tests with a Number 2 pencil. Others are considered "projective" tests and thus are subjective tests. The Rorshach test is a projective test, so if you ever have this test pick your psychologist carefully, make sure they arent mentally ill themselves and are experienced.

Keep in mind that PhD level clinical psychologists administer Neuropsych tests, psychiatrists dont give them. You can get the referral for these tests from your Pdoc, but you have to go to a psychology clinic or practice to get them administered to you.

Done in private practice, all of these tests are quite expensive and managed care insurance often wont pay for them. You can find ways around this by going directly to large University psychology departments which have PhD level clinical psychology training programs. Ask if they have a "psychology clinic" where you pay on a sliding scale. Oftentimes you can get many of these neuropsych tests by a resident (in training) psychologist for dirt cheap prices, without insurance and without any hassles.

There are also fancy, high tech brain scans called "SPECT scans" or "PET scans." These are experimental though and you can only get them at large teaching hospitals with the better quality Neuropsychiatry programs. There is also the "Amen clinic" where for about $2000 you can get a SPECT scan which can help give you a more objective medical type diagnosis of your brain condition. SPECT scans have not filtered down to mainstream clinical psychiatry yet, it will probably be another ten to twenty years before these scans are used in clinical psychiatry on a routine basis.

Howdy Doody


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poster:ItsHowdyDudyTime thread:131374
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021210/msgs/131729.html